Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Let me introduce myself. I'm new on the Earrings Everyday team but some of you may know me primarily from my component shop NuminosityBeads.

My name is Kimberly Rogers and I also love to make jewelry too, especially earrings. My love of making earrings took me down the path to becoming the lampworker and torch fired enameler that I am today. In the early beginnings of my jewelry making journey I wanted to make some of my own components in order to add a little something totally my own to my designs. I became so hooked on that process that I decided to offer those design elements to other designers that are looking for organic and sometimes crusty components to their designs. I found out that there were a few of you out there that shared that earthy aesthetic as well.

Part of my creative process is trying to come up with new and unique components to share with others yet retaining a touch of my numinositybeads imprint and recognizable style as a jumping of point for others.

"Gasconade"

The enamel pieces used in these earrings were my own twist from an experiment with torch fire enameling on old vintage tin children't tea set plates that were too rusty and crusty to be collectibles anymore.

I added a small triangle of some dyed salmon skin leather that I had picked up during a visit to Chile.

any sort of leather could be used to soften and reinforce the tapered area of tin. I pnched a hole in the leather to match the tin hole and I used E6000 glue to glue the leather to the tin.

The springlike green lampwork beads with purple webbing seemed like a nice counterpoint to finish off these earrings.

I am especially fond of Faerystones "simples" earwires once the length of the earrings are established so as not to have them be too long .

Here is an example of an enameled tin pair that I have made.

You can look forward to more Earrings Everyday posts from me on the second and fourth Thursday of every month. I look forward to hearing from you!

These earrings feature handmade ceramic beads. I'll soon be firing my 8th glazed kiln load. Just over a year into my new adventure in ceramics and I can hardly remember what life was like before... For more about my journey and some works in progress, please check out my latest post on my personal blog.

I pulled the colors for the gemstones from my painting, and painstakingly created two fairly similar Trees Of Life using 26g Sterling Silver wire. It takes patience to work with the delicate wire, and try to make the small 1" trees come out as similar as possible.

The gemstones that I used are all AAA... Purple Garnet (amazing purple color),

Friday, April 24, 2015

I wanted to make myself a pair of earrings to wear on my birthday and I wanted them to be long because I have long hair and most of the time my earrings just disappear behind my hair. I have seen similar earrings on Pinterest and in stores but usually the beads make a chevron pattern (that is SO in, but I am not a fan of the chevron pattern) so I made these without it. These were quite simple and quick and since I haven't had much time for jewelry lately, I was happy about that!

I made a necklace that is similar to these earrings and just listed it on my website here.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Mixed metal dragonfly charms from my Melismatic Morsel line have been adorned with emerald green teardrop Swarovski beads. Finished with hand-wrought sterling earwires, these lovely earrings will dance flirtily from your earlobes, just like the lacey dragonflies flying around in the summer sun!

photo courtesy of public-domain-image.com

note - the bluish tint on the metal is not patina...just a lighting thing that I couldn't correct!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

I always experience an emotional lift in the spring, when the sun returns to the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps I have a touch of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). This year of course, I escaped winter altogether, by living in Oaxaca, Mexico for the past 3 months. Nevertheless, I'm feeling that kind of springtime joy. This area can be kind of dreary in the winter, but come springtime, it will just knock you over with the beauty of the sun reflecting off the water of Puget Sound and Mount Rainier towering over everything.

When I reached for these disc beads by Marsha Neal Studio, that shape and color reminded me of the sun. And I think that happy mood I was speaking of, just permeates this whole earring design! I used some ceramic head pins that I'd gotten at Micheals ages ago. I rested an orange Indonesian glass bead on each head pin and then wired the head pins to Marsha's ceramic beads.

Walking On Sunshine Earrings

I had some hand dyed ribbon on my work table from a previous project and I decided that a little orange bow would look sweet and happy, as a finishing touch. (The ribbon ends are sealed with a bit of Fray Stop).

Walking On Sunshine Earrings

Some of my friends on Facebook have been reporting spring snow showers in other parts of the country. I hope the "Walking On Sunshine" earrings will send a little bit of sunshine your way!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Images , oral traditions, and historical descriptions show women as invokers, healers, herbalists, oracles and diviners, ecstatic dancers, shapeshifters, shamanic journeyers, and priestesses of the ancestors.In western Africa, the sorceress Kulutugubaga has the power to heal all and bring the dead to life.(from Woman Shaman by Max Dashú).

My earrings were designed to evoke a Shaman mood of mystery and spiritualism, using striped African barrel beads, African brass trade beads, and primitive pewter charms from Inviciti. Handmade black glass with stripes of ruddy red and white blend beautifully in color and character with the dark patinated pewter drops. A powerful combination, as the Shaman is a powerful position within a tribe, emanating strength and recuperative power for those who depend on her.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Yesterday was my grandson, Riley's 5th birthday party! Riley, his dad (our son) and Riley's mom live in the eastern part of Washington State, while we live in the western part. The Cascade Mountain Range divides our state. On the west side, where we live, the climate is temperate and it rains a lot in the fall and winter. On the eastern side it is arid, with a steppe-like geography. It is very hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

So although we just live 4 hours away from one another, it was much warmer there yesterday, and there were many more flowers than on our side of the mountains. It was a delight to drive around and see pink and white dogwoods, huge lilac bushes, tulips and fruit trees in bloom. If you know me, then you know that I love flowers and that they are endlessly inspiring to me.

The lilacs were especially inspiring. They smell so heavenly. So when I reached for these copper components by Kristi Bowman, the lilac color really called to me. I highlighted that color with connectors I fashioned out of purple WoolyWire and silver-lined green pony beads. I'm so pleased with these, because they fill me with all the joy of a sunny, flower-filled spring day.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Wasn't this the most fascinating architectural wonders? I hope that one day I get to travel to Spain to view the The City of Arts and Sciences complex. Just the buildings alone would be awe-inspiring, must less to see what is housed in these wonders! My first instinct was to give you one structure for the inspiration. But I really had a hard time choosing! So I gave them all to you!

The one that I was most drawn to is the Hemispheric. This structure looks like a glowing eyeball with the retractable lid and the reflecting pool.

I knew right away that I wanted to play with that shape. And what better way than to use a herringbone wire wrap. I tried using multiple colors of wire so it sort of had a peacock feather effect, but I only had 20 gauge wire, and it became too thick to work with (I needed to use something like 24 gauge). So I scaled it back and just used one color, this peridot green that brought out the color in these mystery beads. I have no idea what they are. They are sort of a milky white with tiny facets all over and peeking through the stone are these translucent dots of green. [If you know what it is, please give a shout out in the comments!]

I simply added a little green briolette to the bottom and finished with gold filled ear wires. I could see making them in all sorts of colors, and I found a lot of beads of similar size that I might test that out that idea.

The second pair of earrings I managed to make are vastly different. I was inspired by the Umbracle gateway with the steel wire arches and the El Museo de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe that was built to resemble a whale skeleton. Even the L'Oceanogràfic has this same arched whale shape!

I sketched out a design for wishbone shaped pieces of dark annealed steel wire. I simply wrapped the 18 gauge wire to make a sort of spring and then flattened the ends to finish them. For the ear wires, I used a 19 gauge wire to mimic the shape as if it were the spine of the beast.

They are super light weight and an interesting shape. I might experiment with adding more bone shapes, or beads in between. A larger one would make a really cool pendant. Maybe these miniature whale wish bones (is that an oxymoron?) will bring me three times the luck!

So...which architectural marvel were you most inspired by? Can't wait to see what you did with this month's We're All Ears inspiration!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Let's see what you created!Please take the time to hop around to the participants.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Isn't it odd how some colors go through trendy ups and downs? Some colors are classic and are always in style - denim blue, bold red, chic black. And then there are other more ubiquitous colors, like burnt orange, pastel pink, and neons (of any kind). Who is it that actually decides what color is going to be "hot" this year, anyways?

I've noticed the past year or two that pale mint green---you know, the color of your grandma's refrigerator, telephone, and/or toilet back in the day---has been experiencing a real resurgence. I can't say I'm completely nuts about it. I'm just not really a pastel kind of gal to begin with.

BUT...

It is spring, and we just had Easter, and the tender leaves are all budding on the trees, so that got me in a bit of a softer mood. So I decided to finally use these wee raw chrysocolla drusy drops that I've been holding on to forever. I gave them some messy primitive beads caps with globby solder and hung them beneath stacks of precious bits: antique wood beads, crusty metal spacers, and powdery shimmery ancient glass beads. They make a perfectly light sweet dangley slim set for these springy months - or any month, really. Hope you're all enjoying spring this year...even if it is a little late :)Happy Wednesday!

This is a rather bold 'in your face' kind of sun, with stormy and happy colors in the sky. It was meant that way. This is a more raw, 'primal' painting, because the message that I wanted to spread in the world is very basic, but powerful:

The energy that you "radiate' out into the world comes from the core of your soul.

MAKE IT STRONG, BRIGHT, AND POSITIVE...

ENERGIZE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU.

If you feel that your energy is lacking, weak, or negative, etc. Make time for yourself...

Rest, meditate, do some basic yoga, stretch, take some quiet time, breathe.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Well, I think it was on my last post that I mentioned that I had recently adopted a puppy...well, he really needed a brother so....now there are two. We adopted Rocky on April 4th and he and Rudy are only a week apart (both will be 4 months soon). They are getting along fabulously!

So why am I writing about puppies when this is clearly an earring blog you ask? Well, these two are the reason why I haven't made any earrings (or anything else for that matter!) for quite some time. So, I am going to do a "Flashback Friday" and share a pic of my "Sun Ray Drops" which (sadly) are still available in my shop.

I cut these teardrop shapes out of copper sheet and etched them by drawing with a sharpie. I love the teardrop headpins by Bubby & McGurk Beads. Hmm, since they haven't sold maybe it's a sign that I should keep them for myself? ;)

Thursday, April 9, 2015

I have had these sweet charms by Jenny Davies-Reazor since last August! I love how she leaves the rough edges on the clay and the organic designs she embosses them with! I remember choosing these 2 specific pair because of the intense hues each possessed...they reminded me of the colors you see at the ocean...from the darker blue to the more teal, almost green hues.

A closer look...look at the colors in those borosilicate beads!

These were on my work table and I decided to use some lampwork beads that I had in my stash...I believe both pairs are by Lori Robbins. She makes incredible borosilicate beads. Her pairs are almost always perfectly matched. Unfortunately, she hasn't had anything in her shop for a while and I don't know if she has a website!

These are wrapped with sterling wire and include hand wrought sterling earwires, that I may or may not change out...these are a bit big for my taste :)

Now, if I could only get to the ocean to enjoy the colors in person...until then, these will have to do!

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Welcome

Earrings Everyday hopes to inspire those who make earrings and adorn those who love to wear them!

You'll find a new pair of earrings featured from our shops each weekday. Find out the designer's inspiration and styling tips behind their creations.

Please Note:

All earrings shown on this blog are copyright protected by the designer. We are offering the designs as a jumping point for your own inspirations, but please respect our creative talents - and your own - and do not copy these designs to offer them for sale.